


Triples

by Samuraiter



Category: Final Fantasy IX
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-16
Updated: 2013-06-16
Packaged: 2017-12-15 03:22:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/844718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samuraiter/pseuds/Samuraiter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zidane does a bit of reflection on the years after the game as he plays Tetra Master with Garnet. For Chaineddove in the 2013 Ship Swap.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Triples

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chaineddove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaineddove/gifts).



Life after the recession of the mists – that is, after the destruction of the Iifa Tree and everything it had entailed – had been quite difficult. The reconstruction of Gaia had consumed the energies of everybody involved in saving the planet, but all of that had passed, and life, after several years, had settled into a routine. Zidane, consort to the new Queen of Alexandria, had never been one for routine, but it represented a vacation for him after everything he had done to help all of his friends rebuild their lives. That, and he had a reason – a _solid_ reason, for once – to put down roots in the city.

The reason in question belonged to the person seated across from him at the Tetra Master table. (One could play the game on top of _anything_ , and Zidane had spent countless days playing against his friends on the deck of one airship or another, but the castle had a specific table for it.) Not that Garnet did not represent a reason all by herself, seeing as to how he loved her and all of that, but she had announced, about half a year ago, that she expected to have a baby – _his_ baby. He did not have the foggiest idea how a Summoner and a Genome could _produce_ a baby, but —

No, strike that. He had _every_ idea how that had happened, but he did not suspect that it could result in a child – possibly a child possessed of a tail like his, charming as he found that notion. Mikoto – seated at another side of the table, and all too happy to be present at the castle at his invitation – had suggested that it might be because Genomes, having been designed as vessels for human souls, had the same trappings as any human body, and that explanation satisfied both Garnet and her consort. Summoner plus Genome equals ... a human? Another Genome? A half-Genome?

Zidane slapped another card on the table. He had about three months left to ponder that question before the course of nature answered it for him. He had to admit that he liked the picture he had in his head of a miniature Garnet with a tail (and a horn). Granted, he had asked himself, more than once, if he had the maturity necessary to being a father, and he had come up short on that score every time, by his reckoning, but he had his friends to help him if he did not measure up to the challenge. Since the announcement, they had all, each and every one of them, paid their visits to the castle.

Except Steiner and Beatrix. They already lived there, and both of them had promised to guard the new Princess – funny that everybody, including Zidane, assumed it was going to be a girl – to the ends of their lives. It helped that they already had four children of their own, almost one for each year that had passed since the end of the crisis. (Beatrix never let pregnancy get between her and her duties, despite the protests of her husband.) Two boys, two girls – a good balance, setting aside that Garnet and Zidane intended to tip it by introducing Girl #3 to the mix and giving Steiner a fresh headache.

Cid, Eiko, and Hilda had been among the first to visit, and Eiko – Princess of Lindblum, thanks to being adopted – had volunteered to stay and babysit, but had been urged to hold that offer until after the baby had arrived. (She had also volunteered to be the official big sister to said baby, and no one had protested that.) Granted, she had left in a huff after that, but she had promised – one might say _threatened_ – to return, too. And she pretended not to notice Amarant lurking around the grounds, since he, in turn, had decided to pretend to only be pausing in the city for a spell, rather than visiting.

The occasion of Quina Quen visiting had been accompanied by preparations akin to those of impending siege – or, perhaps, impending natural disaster. The castle kitchens had been fortified against every conceivable assault, and the Knights of Pluto had all volunteered to occupy those kitchens. That they had volunteered to do so months in advance of the foretold assault seemed a trifle suspicious, but neither Steiner nor Zidane opted to protest the silliness of the whole situation. As it happened, Quina Quen left almost as soon as it arrived, leaving only a big cake that it had (mostly) not eaten.

Freya and Fratley had stopped by the castle shortly after that. Burmecia had been the kingdom most in need of rebuilding, and Alexandria had devoted a large share of its resources to that effort, meaning that Garnet and Zidane had both been in frequent contact with the Dragon Knights, but they had still made the effort to cross the distance between the two realms. Freya had never been the most emotionally demonstrative individual of anybody Zidane had known, but he could have sworn that she had tears in her eyes at the sight of Garnet with the swell of a baby under her royal dress.

Mikoto had been the last to pay her respects, but not because she had any reluctance to do so. The Black Mages and the Genomes had developed a thriving country of sorts, and their respective leaders found themselves faced by problems that ranged from the nonsensical to the slightly insane. (Quina Quen, of course, fit the latter category.) Zidane had extended the invitation to Mikoto in a letter long before the visit, and he had been delighted to hear that she intended to stay until her niece – she _was_ his sister, after all, though he did not always realize that fact – entered the world.

Until then, life had entered a quiet phase. Zidane could barely hear the sounds of the city outside the castle, a mere backdrop to the game on the table in front of him. That was all he needed: Tetra Master on the table, the love of his life seated across from him, his sister by his side, and the promise of a new child in the future to come. When had life become more than just another trip on the _Tantalus_ , followed by one more scheme, one more play? (It helped that the _Tantalus_ and its crew had stayed in town since the crisis.) When had he, of all people, become a proper and settled person?

Zidane smiled to himself. Those questions needed no answers, he decided.

 **END**.


End file.
